My journey with Kuwait Times started when I applied online and received a phone call from a girl named Ghadeer telling me to come to Kuwait Times for an interview, which made me feel very excited. On the day of the interview, I was a little nervous, but I would say that I was calm overall. After a short drive, I arrived and was led up to the interview room. I must admit that the first thing I thought when I entered the room was “wow, this place is very well decorated!” To be honest, I started forgetting about my nerves as I looked at the decor and the little knickknacks. Ghadeer was also very nice and her smile lit up the room.

She asked me some questions, gave me some information and answered my questions. After that, she gave me a tour around the building. I have to say that other companies feel dull, but Kuwait Times felt like home, and it was due to everything from the furniture and interior design to the people working there. I was set to start in the following week. I tried to prepare at home before my first day by doing research on what a journalist does and how does a journalist write. I tried to brainstorm some topic ideas, which is something that Ghadeer recommended.

I went on my first day with a specific topic in mind and interviewed some people I know to see what their opinions and experiences were. Editors and journalists at Kuwait Times were very helpful and extremely respectful of me and my abilities, which was very comforting for me as an intern on her first day. This made me feel less scared of the workplace and the work environment in the future. The first article I wrote was about things to do in the summer in Kuwait, and so far, the article has been read almost 2,500 times, which is something I am immensely proud of.

Even as the weeks went by, the employees were still very accommodating and enthusiastic to help. I was surprised with the amount of trust they had in me and the result of that was I started trusting myself and believing in myself and my abilities. This made me realise how much the work environment in a company can affect an employee or even an intern. Overall, I would say that my experience was positive from the day of the interview all the way up to now, as I am in my last few days here at Kuwait Times. I have learned about things that I would like to change in myself, but there is not anything that I wished was different at Kuwait Times.

There is a lot that I learned from my experience at Kuwait Times, but there are two main things I learned which are more obvious than the rest. Firstly, I had the opportunity to discover what my passions are. Since I was given the space and freedom to write about whatever interests me, I am no longer someone who does not know what they are interested in. This is because I noticed that as the weeks went by, I kept writing about art, business and media. This was very cathartic, since I am the kind of person who has done every test on the Internet that “reveals” to you what your true passions are or what the “perfect” job for you is.

Therefore, interning at Kuwait Times was truly a perfect solution, because I was given the time and space to get to know myself and what I am interested in through the topics I chose to write about and through interviewing people who are experts in these fields. The second thing I learned about myself through my experience interning at Kuwait Times is how to have balance. Knowing how to balance between the number of articles I publish and the quality of articles I publish taught me balance in other areas of my life.

Through this experience, I also learned how to have a work/life balance. Knowing how to have balance in general is not easy and is something I have struggled with. Sometimes, as humans, we tend to be perfectionists or maybe find it difficult to accept that we have made a mistake or that we need some time to rest. However, I have tried my best to remind myself in the past two months that it is OK if I needed some time off or a break from writing, and I believe that I was successful at listening to my own voice and knowing when to slow down. I would recommend anyone who would like to have some work experience to search for the opportunity that they know is suitable for them.

If you do not know what is suitable for you or what you are interested in, I would recommend you intern at Kuwait Times, because you will be given the space and time to write about almost anything. It is usually the case that when a person is given the space and freedom to write without being told what to write about and without worrying about any kind of success, they usually write about what they are interested in deep down, even if it does not happen in the first few weeks. Here is to a more fulfilling and balanced life — thank you Kuwait Times!